Titanium alloy golf club head

ABSTRACT

A titanium alloy golf club head and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The golf club head comprises a head base, a hitting face at a front edge of the head base and a top lid on the top of the head base. The head base, the hitting face and the top lid are connected to each other to form an entirety. The top lid has an inside surface comprising a plurality of recesses. With the recesses, the weight of the head is reduced while the volume of the head is increased. Meanwhile, the thickness of walls of the head base and of the hitting face does not need to be reduced. Since the weight of the top lid is reduced, the center of gravity of the head is lowered. A rib is formed between two adjacent recesses in the inside surface of the top lid so that an impact force on the head can be efficiently dispersed and the strength of the head is improved.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application is related to a golf club head.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A titanium alloy golf club head is mainly used as golf club head #1, the weight of which is generally 194±3 grams. It has been evidenced that this is an optimal range of weight for hitting golf according to repeated experiments. During hitting, the larger the head's volume is, the larger the air resistance to the head will be and the more smoothly the club will sweep. Thus, the more the hitting performance will be improved.

However, in order to increase the volume of the head without increasing its weight, it has to reduce the thickness of walls of the head, which will hereby cause the strength and rigidity of the head reduced. Thus, the life time and performance of the head will be reduced. In addition, reducing the thickness of walls may change the center of gravity of the head.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A golf club head is disclosed, which is able to increase the volume of the head while guaranteeing the strength of the head and making the center of gravity of the head coincident with the hitting spot as exact as possible.

To this end, there is provided a titanium alloy golf club head, which may comprise a head base, a hitting face at a front edge of the head base and a top lid on the top of the head base. The head base, the hitting face and the top lid are connected to each other to form an entirety. The top lid has an inside surface. There are formed a plurality of recesses in the inside surface. The weight of the head is reduced due to the recesses. As a result, the volume of the head is increased, but the thickness of walls of the head base and of the hitting face does not need to be reduced. Since the weight of the top lid is reduced, the center of gravity of the head is lowered. A rib is formed between each of two adjacent recesses in the inside surface so that an impact force on the head may be efficiently dispersed and the strength of the head may be improved.

In an implementation, the recesses in the inside surface are arranged bilateral symmetrically and depth of each of the recesses is identical. As a result, the weight of the top lid is arranged symmetrically and the club may swing more smoothly.

In another implementation, at least two of the plurality of recesses are arranged in a splayed form or in a scattered sector-shaped form.

There is also provided a method for manufacturing a golf club head which may have a structure as described above, comprising: cutting a titanium alloy blank to form a semi-finished top lid; preheating the formed semi-finished top lid, and forging the preheated semi-finished top lid with a mould to form alternate recesses and ribs on a surface of one side of the semi-finished top lid.

Precision of the forged recesses depends on the precision of the mould. Therefore, the precision may be kept during repeated manufacturing of the head as long as the precision of the mould is kept, and thus the processing precision of the whole head is improved.

According to the above technical solutions, there is at least one of the following advantages over the prior art.

1. The volume of the head is increased and thus the hitting can be more smoothly. According to the weight distribution of the head, an upper portion of the head is lighter than a lower portion of the head. Therefore, the center of gravity of the head is lowered to be close to or almost coincident with the hitting spot, so that efficiency of the hitting can be improved.

2. The strength of the head is improved so that performance of the head may be optimized and longer life time of the head may be obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a front view of a golf club head according to an implementation;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the golf club head according to the implementation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a top lid in the golf club head of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the top lid derived in direction A of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the top lid of another implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, implementations will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a golf club head 10 comprises a head base 3, a hitting face 4 at a front edge of the head base 3 and a top lid 1 on the top of the head base 3. The head base 3 has a neck 5 for connecting with a club (not shown). The top lid 1 has an inside surface 2 and an outside surface 6 opposite to the inside surface 2. The head base 3, the hitting face 4 and the top lid 1 are connected with each other to form a close entirety.

Now referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a plurality of recesses 21 are formed in the inside surface 2 of the top lid 1. The plurality of recesses 21 are arranged bilateral-symmetrically, and each of the plurality of recesses 21 has the same depth. In this condition, the weight of the top lid 1 may be symmetrically arranged such that the club may swing more smoothly.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the arrangement for the recesses 21. As shown in FIG. 4, the recesses of the plurality of recesses 21 in an upper position of the lid 1 are arranged in a splayed form and those in a lower portion f the lid 1 are arranged in a sector-shaped form. Accordingly, the force impacted on the head may be distributed desirably. Alternatively, all recesses 21 may be arranged in a splayed or a sector-shaped form as required. The recesses 21 with the above-mentioned shapes may be easily formed by moulds with corresponding shapes.

FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of the top lid of another implementation in which the recesses are configured in the forms of the Chinese character of

(a well in English).

Hereinabove, it is described that each of the plurality of recesses 21 has the same depth. However, the invention is not limited thereto. It should be understood that each of the plurality of recesses 21 may have a different depth only if the recesses 21 are formed such that the club may be swung smoothly and/or the hitting spot of the club head is coincident with the center of gravity of the head.

The recesses 21 are preferably shaped by means of a forging process in the art. At first, a titanium alloy blank is cut into a semi-finished product, which is then preheated. The preheated product is further forged by a mould with projected teeth to form alternate recesses 21 and ribs 22 on a surface of one side, i.e., the inside surface 2 of the finished top lid 1. The depths, widths and shapes of the recesses 21 formed in the top lid 1 are determined by the forging mould, so that processing precision of the top lid 1 can be kept during repeated processing. The ribs are arranged in the form of a Chinese character of

. The strength of the top lid 1 can be kept by the formed ribs 22. In addition, an inner stress of the titanium alloy is changed by forging, and compressive strength of the top lid 1 may thus be improved.

In another implementation, at least of the ribs are arranged in the shape of a rhombus which can also be seen from FIG. 5.

The head base 3 and the hitting face 4 may be manufactured using known methods in the art, which are omitted herein. 

1. A titanium alloy golf club head, comprising: a head base; a hitting face at a front edge of the head base; and a top lid on the top of the head base, wherein the head base, the hitting face and the top lid are connected to each other to form an entirety, and the top lid has an inside surface with a plurality of recesses shaped by means of a forging process, and ribs are formed between two adjacent recesses and integrated with the top lid.
 2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the recesses are arranged bilateral-symmetrically, and the depth of each of the recesses is identical.
 3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of recesses are arranged in a splayed form.
 4. The golf club head of claim 2, wherein at least two of the plurality of recesses are arranged in a splayed form.
 5. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of recesses are arranged in a scattered sector-shaped form.
 6. The golf club head of claim 2, wherein at least two of the plurality of recesses are arranged in a scattered sector-shaped form.
 7. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the ribs are arranged in the form of a Chinese character of

.
 8. The golf club head of claim 2, wherein the ribs are arranged in the form of a Chinese character of

.
 9. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein at least part of the ribs are arranged in the form of a rhombus.
 10. The golf club head of claim 2, wherein at least part of the ribs are arranged in the form of a rhombus.
 11. A method for manufacturing the golf club head of claim 1, wherein a process for manufacturing the top lid comprises: cutting a titanium alloy blank to form a semi-finished top lid; preheating the formed semi-finished top lid, and forging the preheated semi-finished top lid with a mould to form alternate recesses and ribs on a surface of one side of the semi-finished top lid. 